What I did on Valentine’s night makes me want to hate Guyana

Feb 16, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Rawle Welch, Kaieteur News Sports Journalist and I left KN offices at 7.30 pm on Saturday night. We were heading home. As we reached Croal Street and Avenue of the Republic, commonly known as Demico car park, a mini riot was in progress. Traffic became chaotic. We were caught in the middle of it. It was impossible to reverse to escape. Fear of my car being struck overcame me.
I heard Rawle said, “Watch this man boy,” A minibus refused to slow down and almost hit us. Then Rawle yelled out again, “Watch this man boy.” This time it was a cyclist hurrying to get into the crowd. He rode in front of our moving car and gave us the look of unrestrained, intimidating ignorance.
As we drove closer to the outbreak, I slowed out of curiosity. The behavior was ugly. It was an accident but the thickness of the crowd prevented us from seeing the actual picture. I don’t know if a fight broke out over the crash but I believe violence was in the air. Not even one policeman was in sight. I immediately said that to Rawle.
At the most crowded traffic junction in the entire 83,000 square miles of Guyana, a huge brawl was in progress and not even a solitary traffic rank was present. All over the world, people, young and not so young, flood the streets on Saturday night.
The world comes alight on Saturday night. From Afghanistan to Newfoundland, from the Solomon Islands in the Pacific to little Nevis in the Caribbean, more people are on the streets on Saturday night than any other night. Naturally, most commonsensical, more cops are out on duty on Saturday nights. Not in Guyana though, and for obvious reason – rational thinking is not a feature of life in Guyana. We come now to my perennial point – the failure of Guyana as a country
If you are reading this article between 7.30 am and 6 pm, go to that very park, go to any park, go to any busy roadway and you will see traffic ranks there in full battle dress. Then when night comes, go to those very sites, go all over Georgetown and you will see more elephants roaming the streets than traffic cops. What becomes of the traffic police after sundown is a mystery.
I am on the roads every night, and I hardly see traffic police. In all honesty, I mean that. To get home after dropping off Rawle, I didn’t take the Railway Embankment where I live because when I turned off Sheriff Street on to the Railway Embankment I saw the confusion. It was the massive build-up outside Giftland Mall. I used the Atlantic highway
I got home about 8pm. My daughter asked me to take her to Prashad Nagar to give her friend muffins she had baked that afternoon. It was no point using the Railway Embankment. But, how to cross over the Railway Embankment from UG Road to get to the other highway? The traffic signals do not work after 6pm and the flow of vehicles on the Railway Embankment from both east and west is non-stop.
My daughter’s heart was in her hand. Coming back from Prashad Nagar, her heart was in her hand again. The next night, Sunday, Rawle Welch and I left KN offices at the same time as the night before. It was Valentine’s Night and madness took over the roads. Rawle lives in Kitty, and as we drove north on JB Singh Road, a car overtook us at tremendous speed on the right driving onto the parapet to pass us. You can ask Rawle Welch; for the two nights we drove home we didn’t see not even one traffic cop although we saw many forms of driving madness
Like Saturday night, I took the Atlantic highway again because of the Valentine outpouring at Giftland which would make the Railway Embankment impassible. Right at the junction of the highway and Vlissengen Road at Clive Lloyd Drive, there was a big accident with dozens of people gathered and tempers flaring but not even one traffic rank could be seen.
Time now to get to my home and to cross over the Railway Embankment on UG Road. It was impossible. I drove to Ogle on the Atlantic Highway, turned into the Railway Embankment and hugged my corner until I reached the dead traffic signals and onto UG Road again. I took the long way, and all because of dead traffic lights at a terrible crossing. We are celebrating 50 years on Independence. Yea maan!

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What I did on Valentine’s night makes me want to hate Guyana

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